East Nashville News: Darling Salon, Google Fiber comes to East Nashville, Merchants of 919 Gallatin, more

We’ve been getting some emails again recently, so we want to open this week’s installment of East Nashville News with a little clarification/reminder:

We call this weekly column “East Nashville News”; our magazine is called The East Nashvillian. There’s a blog that goes by the name East Nashville News, but we’re not affiliated in any way.

Might change the column’s name to make it more clear. Taking suggestions; leaning toward “Steve.”

With that, the latest bit of East Nashville Steve:

Oh my: Darling Salon opening soon

Another new business joining the family at the brand-new The Eastland development: Darling Salon & Blow Out Bar (pictured above), at 1049 West Eastland.

Led by owner/stylist/makeup artist Laura Beth Boles (a longtime Nashville beauty-builder, with stints at Surreal in Green Hills and others), Darling’s set to offer a mix of salon services for men and women: blowouts, styling and makeup, along with traditional salon services like color, cuts and brow shaping.

Boles tells us inspections just went well, and that opening day’s set for November 1.

“…Just some small finishing touches and cleaning left,” she says, and Darling's ready to kill.

Merchants of 919 Gallatin host Open House

Scenic Gallatin Pike is home to many an East Nashville business, some of us packed cozier than others. Like, say, us and 11 of our East Nashville business brethren, who call 919 Gallatin home.

We (and many of our Merchants of 919 Gallatin-mates) haven’t held a proper neighborhood hello yet, so we’ve put one on the books: You’re invited to come by for an open house on Saturday, Nov. 11 to explore and meet a slew of local business owners and check out what they’re making and doing.

East Siders, your G-Fibe’s (almost) here

If you felt a swell of nerdy energy well up around the 37206 area Wednesday, here’s why: News broke that the long-talked-about, long-delayed, long-awaited, long-whined-about Google Fiber service was rolling out in a handful of new Nashville neighborhoods, including East Nashville.

Don’t start dialing that ISP you’re champing to ditch — sign-ups are just beginning, and not all of the neighborhood is covered just yet. But District 7 Metro Council Rep Anthony Davis says the Fibes folks are moving up through the East Side, surely and steadily.

Changes afoot at the Eastland Kroger

The intent, the Post’s William Williams wrote, is for Kroger to take over the adjacent space now occupied by clothing shop Citi Trends, adding another 10,000 square feet or so to the grocery’s footprint. (Google Street View above.)

To be fair, yes, we’ve heard this one before. But it seems more likely it’ll be the real thing this time — demolition and building permits have been applied for, and although that’s just a step in a forward direction, it’s a promising one.

According to the Post, the hope is to have shoppers rolling carts through an expanded Eastland Kroger “sometime in 2019.” (Coincidentally, that should/may coincide with the opening of the proposed new Sprouts grocery store in the Hill Center Greenwood at Greenwood and Gallatin — developers were hoping for a spring/summer 2019 launch there.)

Nashville Story Garden roots in Inglewood

The latest production from Nashville Story Garden — a local incubator for new film and theater work, which operates largely at the Centennial Performing Arts Studios — is set for its Inglewood debut this weekend, with six shows at the Former Inglewood United Methodist Church over six days.

The show — Love Song, a “funny, romantic, deeply touching adult fable” by John Kolvenbach — kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m., with additional performances on Oct. 29 and 30, Nov. 4, 5 and 6 (all at 7:30). Tickets are $10.

If you’re a theater fan who generally has to cross the river to get your fix, you might want to give the show a once-over. More information about Love Song (and the Story Garden) at nashvillestorygarden.org, and extra details (and ticket links) at the Love Song Facebook Event page.